Chapter 37
Leo’s head pounded as he shook the bottle of acetaminophen. He swallowed two tablets with his cup of coffee and peered at his team with one eye open.
“Jeremy never left the house. The town hasn’t given him a graceful greeting lately. He sent Ben into town for supplies. The kid didn’t appear happy. I’m sure his father’s an unpleasant man to deal with on the farm,” Leo informed the men.
“I went through all the tapes. Jeremy didn’t breach the mountain,” Bear said. “I went over them twice and another time with Shadow and Saint to confirm.”
“Then who the hell shot Sledge and choked Scarlett?” Leo barked.
Bear glanced at Shadow, who nodded, encouraging him.
“I checked all the deliveries logged and cross-referenced them with the drivers. Whoever shot Sledge must be on the mountain. It’s the only thing to make sense.
Whoever shot him knew which cabin Scarlett stayed in, and when Ty left, and Sledge stayed in town. ”
Leo shook his head as he glanced at the team.
“If Bear’s correct, we have veterans on this mountain and teens.
The latter has less access to a gun than the first. We don’t allow weapons here except for those belonging to our own team and Ivan and Victoria’s men.
The veterans sign a contract, and the kids sign an agreement.
We need to start at the hospital and do a search.
Then expand it to the wooded areas and the paths.
I don’t like the idea of someone loose near all those kids and our families. ”
“Maybe one of the new patients snuck one in?” Shadow suggested.
“Then why go after Scarlett? She’s blind. Using the reasoning the cops gave, they don’t consider her a credible threat. The woman ran into a burning building and kept her wits about her to save those kids and the seniors. Something’s not adding up.”
“We assumed it’s Jeremy because of the cologne. It’s not a designer fragrance. Anyone in this town, especially the seniors, might’ve purchased it,” Taco added.
“Whoever set the fire knew when and where to do it. They stayed out of the city’s camera range.
Yet, we can’t give the suspect credit for it.
I don’t think the police station has upgraded its surveillance equipment since the eighties.
They handed me a VHS tape. Do you know how long it took for me to find a VHS recorder?
” Bear vented. “We can’t protect the town without adding our own cameras.
We put them around the community center, and he managed to evade them. ”
“Kassie’s working on suggesting a few more cops at the town meeting.
This will be her argument. Chase says the city has funds set aside for upgrades, and since they paid for the school upgrades and Victoria handled the library’s repairs, they haven’t used the money,” Leo said, running his fingers through his hair.
“Bear, can you hack into the system and see how much money the town has in the bank? Maybe we’re missing a piece of the puzzle there,” Ragu suggested.
“All right, Doc and Michael volunteered for the night shift tonight. We want to search the hospital, and I prefer Doc stay there. Ragu, you go with Michael. Taco and Shadow, you head over to the hospital. I’ll call Joe and see what the lawyer says about searching patient rooms. In today’s world, I’m not taking this threat lightly.
We do it quietly and efficiently. Saint and I will take the veteran wards while they handle the teen rooms. I don’t even want to know what you’ll find in there if it’s not a weapon,” Leo ordered.
“Patch and I can take the cabins,” Knight volunteered.
“Good, wear your mics and cameras. If we spot anything, I want it recorded,” Leo ordered as he drained the last of his mug and placed it in the dishwasher. “Let’s find this asshole.”